2012 Volkswagen Tiguan

Let's Talk Value

Recent Volkswagens have tried to position themselves as a bit more mature and refined than your average blue collar car. Of course, that perceived prestige comes with a higher price tag, and the refreshed-for-2012 Volkswagen Tiguan is no exception.

While the Tiguan starts at a perfectly reasonable $23,660, our SE tester with Sunroof and Navigation rang the register at a pricey $31,345, and it's only a mid-range front-drive model. The top-spec, all-wheel-drive model costs about $39,000. So the question on all our minds was, is it worth it?
More than anything else, what that 31 grand and change buys is the drivetrain. We've long been fans of Volkswagen's turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, and it's well-matched with the Tiguan. We appreciated the torque provided by the quick-spooling turbo and the unceasing pull all the way up the dial. The power is well-managed by a quick- and smooth-shifting six-speed automatic that was in the right gear when called upon, particularly in Sport mode. In standard Drive, not much seemed to happen until about 25-percent throttle when, realizing you're serious about your power request, the transmission drops a gear and the engine springs to life.

Great engine in this one, shame the rest of the car isn't up to it.

At the track, the Tiguan ran past the 60 mph mark in 7.8 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 16.2 seconds at 86.4 mph. Not a speed demon, but certainly quicker than most in the segment. Braking from 60-to-0 mph was slightly long at 123 feet, likely owing to its 3489-pound curb weight, which is on the portly side for its class. Initial brake bite wasn't as strong as we'd like and dampened confidence, but with a little muscle it stops perfectly well.
Unfortunately, the drivetrain was the only real standout feature of the Tiguan. Nearly everyone on staff who drove it wrote something like associate editor Rory Jurnecka's comment: "Great engine in this one, shame the rest of the car isn't up to it." Like Jurnecka, most took umbrage with the Tiguan's ride/handling tradeoff. While never harsh or punishing, the Tiguan rode surprisingly hard and transmitted every crack in the road to the occupants, a behavior senior features editor Jonny Lieberman dubbed disappointing. While the payoff was sticky handling, we didn't feel it was a fair deal. Grip was good, but the Tiguan felt tall and tippy in corners and the flat seats certainly didn't help our confidence. We didn't expect much feedback from a crossover's steering and that's what we got, but we appreciated how quick and linear it was.

The Tiguan managed a modest 0.80 g on the skid pad and a 27.9-second lap on our figure eight at an average of 0.62 g. The lap time and average g are good for the class, owing mostly to the power and a permissive nanny system. Road test editor Scott Mortara noted that, unlike some cars, the Tiguan would happily smoke its inside front tire pulling out of the figure eight's corners without computer interference. But its steady-state skid pad performance was less than impressive.

We also had issues with the Tiguan's interior. While it isn't much smaller than the competition, it feels as though it's packaged vertically. Taller editors like Mike Febbo were thrilled with the head room, but I wish VW put some of that interior volume into the cargo area instead. It's so small that a single-child stroller pretty much fills it up. Dropping the rear seats helps, but that's harder than it sounds. There are no release handles in the cargo area, so the seats must be folded by reaching in through the rear side doors. Once the seats are down, it takes a surprising amount strength to get them back up again. We do like the flat-folding front passenger seat that "is awesome for surfers or Ikea regulars," as Febbo put it.
There was also some debate about the driving position. Tall man Febbo thought it was perfect and Jurnecka agreed, but as a guy of average height I felt like I had to be sitting almost on top of the pedals to get within a comfortable distance to the steering wheel. Executive editor Ron Kiino and I both noted that instruments, steering wheel, and the center stack all seemed to be point to the giant sunroof rather than at the driver. Speaking of the sunroof, we love how big it is, but everyone griped about the mesh cover that didn't adequately block the light or heat of the sun when it was closed.The biggest problem, though, remains the Tiguan's overall value. Our tester had navigation, heated seats, rear A/C vents and a panoramic sunroof, but lacked dual-zone climate control, leather, power seats (the driver's seat alone was half-power) and even automatic headlights. While there weren't any glaring feature omissions, we couldn't help but notice that most of the competition offers the same features and, in some cases more, for a few thousand dollars less. To top it all off, the monochromatic interior came off as plain and a bit cheap-looking for the price.
"Where's the value? You're paying for an engine here and nothing else," Jurnecka quipped. Kiino agreed, "Powertrain is great -- this is what you're really paying for." That was the story of the Tiguan. There were parts we really liked, but they were outshone by a disappointing combination of small problems and a big price tag.

I see they tested it FWD, not to mention that the AWD system is similiar (not the same) as the Audi's. Maybe the guys at motortrend should of put their heads together on that vehicle. you can find an S-AWD with roughly 1,200 more and then the Tiguan dominates the market.

You may want to consider the competition you are using. Put the Tiguan up against the Kia or Hyundai and the pricing is fairly consistent at around $30K. Also, the fuel economy virtually matches an Audi A4 which is pretty good and does add value. I find the media response inconsistent to chide VW for pushing to cut costs on the Jetta/Passat, but then is upset that the Tiguan maintains a higher price point. Even the higher end Tiguans will still undercut their sibling, the Audi Q5, while delivering a lot of the same look/feel.

WHEN it first appeared, the Tiguan was the cat's meow .... it was really good at the time compared to it's competition. Not any miore! Even with it's current refresh, it's basically the same vehicle it was what, 8 years ago?Time for the next generation!

"lacked dual-zone climate control, leather, power seats (the driver's seat alone was half-power) and even automatic headlights" for 31K ohhhhh the competition better watch out! This pile still looks boring & could you have picked a crappier hue of Blue VW?

its just too expensive the Tiguan is. Lower the price maybe 10% and it would be MUCH more competitive and do MUCH better in this segment.People in the 'Under-$30k' segment are VERY price sensitive. Even if the a vehicle is priced at $29k and another at $31k, crossing that $30k threshold changes things.I still like the Tigi and honestly, I think the whole compact-SUV segment kind of sucks, but the next Tigi will be needed for VW to better compete here.

The smart money at VW dealer buys a Jetta SportWagon TDI or a Golf TDI. The Jetta has more cargo space, better mileage, and costs less. The Golf gives you about 95% of the space and features of the Tiguan for even less. Unless you drive your car directly onto the beach to surf, or do a lot of driving in snow, I think a wagon or a hatch will do the trick 99% of the time. Disclosure: I have a GTI with a roof box and its perfect.

While I think the interior is a bit better than the review indicates, the Tiguan does get spanked by the CR-V, 2013 Escape, and Kia Sportage. I think if you want cargo and a German car, the Jetta TDI Sportwagen is the place to go.If you want a high seating position and utility, I don't see the argument when there are so many better choices. At $39k fully loaded, it gets spanked by the Escape and there are a few luxury brands in that price range and close in equipment levels, which makes one wonder.In its base form, I really don't care for the Tiguan unlike my feelings about the Sportage and CR-V.My comemnts are about the interiors only as I have not driven the Tiguan. If it drives anything like VW's other products, I am sure I would like it compared to the vague unconnectedness that is the compact CUV class.

Fair review. My wife has a 2012 Tiguan that we found CPO. It is completely loaded and only had 8k miles on it. She was in the market for a crossover, so the great price, and the factory warranty and CPO warranty on top of that, was hard to pass up. So, we avoided the value dilemma stated in this article. If new, we probably would have passed. This specific CPO Tiguan though, was a perfect value for us. I end up driving it when we're going somewhere together and it's plenty fun to drive. The VW nav system is fantastic. It has the digital display in between gauges (ala Audi), so there's plenty of useful gadgetry. Hands-free phone works great. The panoramic sunroof is HUGE. It's the entire roof. So yea, I like it a lot, based the deal we were able to get on it. My only complaint is the cramped cargo space, but when we need to haul more, we have a hitch rack and a roof top cargo box, so we make it work.

Diesel is still not mainstream here in the US, and I'm not sure it ever will be. I travel to Germany a lot, and it seems like many of cars and SUVs on the road are diesels, though that is also changing, as diesel prices have increased, and other taxes also make it argument for diesels less favorable.Back to the Tiguan, it is a great driving vehicle. No doubt about that, but from the standpoint of price and amenities, it simply cannot compete with others. We drove the Tiguan back-to-back with another CUV earlier this year. We are VW fans and own another VW already (a diesel Jetta). We had no problem owning two VWs, but we just could not convince ourselves to buy the Tiguan, when another vehicle offered so much more, for less money. A well-equipped Tiguan is just not competitive. Perhaps VW should build it in Tennessee, and while they are at it, why not build diesel engines here too.

@VeeDub4LFI am with you on this. Yes, the GM diesel fiasco blunted reputation of diesel engines in the USA but that was 30 years ago. Things have changed and I look forward to the day when more and more Americans turn to diesel power. I had a ride in the 103 kW (140 PS; 137 bhp) Tiguan TDI and it suprised me a lot espically with the Tiptronic box

When the hell will the bring the 170hp Tiguan TDI to the US! It could easily get 37+ MPG with the right gearing, and still not feel slow. My wife wants a small SUV that gets decent milage....and i'm stuck looking at a CX5 because VW won't pull their heads out of their asses.

Hm....The Jetta and Passat dropped in price by thousands of dollars, but not the tiguan. (Same for the Toureg) Why spend 23K for a base tiguan, when for a couple grand more, you can grab the GTI with the same engine, better ride/handling, and more creature features? It probably has more interior space to boot. :P

I recentley had a ride in a pre-facelift Tiguan 2.0 TDI Tiptronic and was very surprised. Sadly, the facelift has not done wonders in the styling department. Would rather have that Juke as I have driven that and loved it. May have less power but looks better and pulls great in Sport mode.